Heifers & a Family Tradition

Heifer calves {born in 2018} received a preventative calf hood vaccination for Brucellosis at the end of January.

Brucellosis of cattle is caused by infection with the bacterium Brucella abortus & causes abortion or premature calving of recently infected cattle, typically between the fifth and eighth months of pregnancy. It is spread from vaginal discharge of an infected cow or from an aborted calf.

This vaccination must be administered by a veterinarian. After receiving the vaccination, they are tagged with a United States Department of Agriculture Official Calfhood Vaccination {OCV} ear tag. Many states require that breeding age females be OCV’d before crossing their borders. Thanks to Dr. Neal Eckert & Craig Lang from Fredericksburg Veterinary Clinic for coming out.

We then sorted the heifers into groups {keepers & ones to sell}. Our keeper heifers will spend the next several months grazing, will be bred, & go on to hopefully raise many calves.

On February 16th, family gathered at Hillingdon for the annual sausage making shindig.

Deer meat from the hunting season was combined with pork & the family’s spice recipes to make various kinds of sausage {cooking, pan, & hard}.